GNITN - Special Edition

Israel At War – Day 129

Rescue Mission Succeeds

Hostages Found And Released

Word came out that a rescue mission was launched and succeeded as two hostages were found and are now back in Israel as we read in a report from The Times Of Israel:

In a complex overnight operation, Israeli special forces rescued two hostages from Hamas captivity in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip early Monday, marking the first successful extraction of captives held by the terror group in months.

As I read in various accounts from i24news.tv, CBN.com¸ and The Jerusalem Post the mission was a coordinated one using even trained Israeli police:

The joint operation by the police’s elite Yamam counterterrorism unit, the Shin Bet security agency, and IDF began at around 1 a.m. in Rafah, an area that Israeli forces had not yet maneuvered into during their ground offensive against the Hamas terror group.

For some who warned that Israel should refrain from taking the fight to Hamas in Rafah due to the urban nature of the fight, this is an example that the IDF is more than capable of fighting in multiple and complex ways and in a highly targeted fashion as well. But it also shows us that Hamas will hide hostages in homes in apartments to make it harder for them to be found, but also difficult to fight without civilian casualties. Moving on in the article we get more specifics of the operation:

IDF Spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said Yamam officers “carried out a very complex action on the premises and the second floor where the hostages were held.”

“Reaching the target in the heart of Rafah was very complex,” Hagari said.

He said the forces breached the apartment with explosives at 1:49 a.m., killing the three terrorists guarding the hostages and “hugged and protected Louis and Fernando with their bodies.”

“The troops pulled Louis and Fernando out of the apartment and rescued them under fire, until they reached the safe zone,” Hagari said.

The rescue wasn’t the only activity that happened:

Fighting also broke out in several adjacent buildings, with massive airstrikes carried out against Hamas terrorists in the area of the rescue operation at 1:50 a.m., Hagari said.

“There was intense firepower from the air. Fire was opened from nearby buildings. The Air Force struck intensively there,” he said.

At the same time, the Navy’s Shayetet 13 commando unit and 7th Armored Brigade also provided cover for the extraction.

Hagari said “many terrorists were eliminated tonight in this action,” including at least three in the building where the hostages were held. Hamas claimed that around 100 people were killed.

The hostages were rushed out of the area and taken to a hospital in Israel and have already been reunited with their loved ones.

More Hostages Will Be Rescued

Israel Defense Minister Yoav Gallant stated that there will be more rescues to come as we read first from a report in The Jerusalem Post:

Defense Minister Yoav Gallant met on Monday with the troops who participated in the rescue operation that freed the two hostages and congratulated them on the impressive results.

"This is a turning point - Hamas is penetrable and understands that we can reach anywhere, with any force. You have allowed the citizens of Israel breathing space - the day will not be far away, and there will be more operations," he said.

This is encouraging and a specific answer to our prayers and we have asked God to give the IDF actionable intelligence for the hostages locations and this one came from just that. As Hamas terrorists are captured they are interrogated and are giving the IDF a treasure trove of information, intelligence that actually led to this mission and undoubtably lead to more. It is believed that more hostages are in Rafah and could be rescued as well. But Hamas maintains that the rescue operations didn’t go as well as Israel says it did as we read in another article from The Jerusalem Post:

Hamas's armed wing claimed on Monday that three of eight Israeli hostages who were seriously injured following Israeli airstrikes had died from their wounds.

"The al-Qassam Brigades announce the killing of three of the eight Zionist detainees who we announced yesterday were seriously injured in the barbaric Zionist raids on the Gaza Strip," the Al Qassam Brigades said on Hamas's Telegram channel. "We will postpone announcing the names and photos of the dead for days to come until the fate of the rest of the wounded becomes clear."

Can we trust this information? Hamas has proven to be unreliable in the past:

Information shared by Hamas on the hostages is generally considered to be unreliable and a part of Hamas's psychological warfare. In the past, Hamas has claimed the death of a hostage who was later released as part of a ceasefire agreement.

Hamas claimed that Hannah Katzir had been killed in an Israeli airstrike, but she was released two weeks later from captivity.

To be fair, the IDF has admitted that a hostage did die recently after an airstrike:

While Hamas has falsely claimed the deaths of hostages before, the IDF has also confirmed the possibility that hostages had mistakenly died during airstrikes. Yossi Sharabi was, unbeknownst to the IDF, being held by Hamas in an adjacent building to a structure targeted by the IAF, resulting in his death.

Biden Isn’t Pleased With Netanyahu

We read in an article from The Times of Israel:

Amid reports of growing frustration in the White House with Benjamin Netanyahu, NBC News reported on Monday that US President Joe Biden has been expressing his exasperation with the prime minister in private conversations — even calling him an “a******” — but is not about to make any major policy changes.

Citing “five people directly familiar with his comments,” the report said that Biden has expressed frustration to confidants, including campaign donors, over his “inability to persuade Israel to change its military tactics in Gaza.”

This growing divide isn’t likely going to end, especially if the United States keep pushing for a ceasefire and a Palestinian state run by what Netanyahu considers terrorists like the Palestinian Authority (PA) which Biden thinks will bring an end to the war. Biden is apparently constantly using expletives for Netanyahu:

Biden reportedly said he is trying to get Israel to agree to a ceasefire with Hamas, but Netanyahu is “giving him hell.”

The president called Netanyahu an “a******” in at least three recent instances, according to three of the anonymous sources.

Biden feels that Netanyahu just wants to stay in power:

“He just feels like this is enough,” one of the sources told NBC, regarding Biden’s thoughts on Netanyahu’s behavior. “It has to stop.”

Biden, the report also said, believes that Netanyahu wants to extend the war to stay in power.

Adding to this are comments coming from the US administration that they don’t trust Netanyahu and are just waiting until he is out of office:

An NBC report also cited three administration officials who claimed the administration was looking past Netanyahu to try and achieve its goals in the region, with one of them telling the network that the premier “will not be there forever.”

For his part, Netanyahu won’t publicly criticize Biden:

Despite the disagreements, Netanyahu has made sure not to disparage the US president publicly. Asked on Sunday about a US government report that portrayed US President Joe Biden as suffering from memory loss, Netanyahu told ABC’s “This Week” that he’s “found him very clear, and very focused.”

I’ve said this over and over again, but all signs are pointing to the world leaders turning against Israel and they will have to either capitulate to that pressure or press on with their goals of eliminating Hamas and really all terrorists surrounding them and release the rest of the hostages. From what I am hearing, the latter will happen before the former. Personally, if Israel is to survive, there really isn’t a choice.